PhD Studentship: Water Cultures in Conflict at Pebble Mine, Bristol Bay, Alaska (closing 27 April 2023)

Applications are invited for this funded 4-year PhD studentship at the University of Hull to start in September 2023 or January 2024. Closing date for applications is Thursday, 27 April 2023.

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious, talented and enthusiastic researcher to conduct interdisciplinary research in order to advance thinking within the area of blue-green humanities through researching one of the world’s primary sites of contemporary water cultures in profound conflict – at Pebble Mine, Bristol Bay, Alaska. Pebble Mine is the second-largest gold deposit in the world and if exploited, will yield up to $500 billion. However, it is also at the headwaters of two of the five major river drainages that supply the salmon runs of Bristol Bay, the world’s largest salmon run. This interdisciplinary PhD project will explore the extent to which Pebble Mine is emblematic of a new, global dependence on rare metals and of a race for access to them capable of shaping the environmental agenda of the future.

The PhD scholarship is tenable for 48 months. It covers fees at the UK rate, a maintenance grant of £17,668 per year (2022/23 rate), and a research and training support grant. This opportunity comes with a Home fee waiver only, which will not cover the full International fee. You will therefore need to pay the difference between the Home fee and the International fee and will need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to cover this, as no additional funding is available. More details about the studentship at this link. Queries can be directed to joy.porter@hull.ac.uk or watercultures@hull.ac.uk.